Advances in Manufacturing ›› 2014, Vol. 2 ›› Issue (2): 141-149.doi: 10.1007/s40436-014-0071-4

• • 上一篇    下一篇

Implications of automation in engineer-to-order production:a case study

Børge Sjøbakk1 • Maria Kollberg Thomassen1 •Erlend Alfnes2   

  1. 1. Industrial Management, SINTEF Technology and Society,Trondheim, Norway
    2.Department of Production and Quality Engineering, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway
  • 收稿日期:2014-02-11 修回日期:2014-04-09 出版日期:2014-06-28 发布日期:2014-05-22
  • 通讯作者: e-mail: borge.sjobakk@sintef.no
  • 作者简介:e-mail: borge.sjobakk@sintef.no

Implications of automation in engineer-to-order production:a case study

Børge Sjøbakk1 • Maria Kollberg Thomassen1 •Erlend Alfnes2   

  1. 1. Industrial Management, SINTEF Technology and Society,Trondheim, Norway
    2.Department of Production and Quality Engineering, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway
  • Received:2014-02-11 Revised:2014-04-09 Online:2014-06-28 Published:2014-05-22
  • Contact: e-mail: borge.sjobakk@sintef.no
  • About author:e-mail: borge.sjobakk@sintef.no

摘要: In order to retain a certain level of production in Norway, suppliers to the Norwegian maritime industry need to lower their production costs. Automation is generally an effective way of achieving this in standardized high-volume, low variety production. However, manufacturing companies in the Norwegian maritime industry typically supply capital-intensive, advanced and customized products in low volumes. In this engineer-to-order production situation, manual labor is traditionally preferred over automation. Nonetheless, such companies increasingly automate parts of their production. This paper presents
a case of a supplier that has chosen to automate its welding operations, the implications and determinants of this decision.

关键词: Engineer-to-order (ETO) ,  Automation , Maritime industry ,  Case study 

Abstract: In order to retain a certain level of production in Norway, suppliers to the Norwegian maritime industry need to lower their production costs. Automation is generally an effective way of achieving this in standardized high-volume, low variety production. However, manufacturing companies in the Norwegian maritime industry typically supply capital-intensive, advanced and customized products in low volumes. In this engineer-to-order production situation, manual labor is traditionally preferred over automation. Nonetheless, such companies increasingly automate parts of their production. This paper presents
a case of a supplier that has chosen to automate its welding operations, the implications and determinants of this decision.

Key words: Engineer-to-order (ETO) ,  Automation , Maritime industry ,  Case study